If you asked a non-Italian to list as many of Italy’s twenty official regions as they could, however short their list was, it would almost certainly include Tuscany. This gilded swathe of central Italy is one of the nation’s biggest names. And it’s well-known for good reason. To begin with, there’s its colourful history and wealth of art. Who hasn’t heard of Florence or Pisa, or of legendary Tuscans such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci? And then there are the million modern images of Tuscan countryside that surround us in advertisements and product-labels.
Those rolling hills, arcing vineyards, bristling cypress trees and honeycoloured stone farmhouses form some of the quintessential conceptions of Italy – even for people who’ve never been to the country. So Tuscany is a region that needs no introduction. But we should perhaps point out that the region’s assets include more than just legendary art-cities and lyrical hilly countryside. There are also fabulous stretches of coast here in Tuscany, where pale sands slope into turquoise shallows, and there’s a generous scattering of jewel-like offshore islands. There are leafy mountains strewn with old castles, and huge areas of wilderness-like national parkland harbouring impressive wildlife. If you were to try to find downsides to Tuscany, you might point to one or two bland and undistinguished towns, and to some intense summer crowding in tourist centres – but you get that kind of thing everywhere in the world now. Overall, Tuscany is a spectacular place. Its food, wine and olive oil are rightly exalted, and the region’s climate is sublime. No wonder so many people from so many different countries have dreamed of owning a home here.
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